Nottingham's housing scandal

In a story that would make Soviet Russia proud, there is a scandal brewing here in Nottingham that beggars belief.

Its report says employees of the housing service, as well as relatives, partners and associates were given houses they should not have had.

Tens of thousands of pounds of public money was spent improving wrongly allocated houses – and some were then bought under the right-to-buy scheme and a councillor lied to help two associates obtain a house.

Got that? So these housing officers were giving out council housing to their family and mates, even though they weren’t eligible. They were then spending huge sums on improving some of these houses (I have seen over £40,000 quoted in one case), and the houses were then purchased under the right to buy scheme. Some of them were then sold.

But as if that wasn’t bad enough, it now emerges that they were dishing out jobs to their mates at the same time.

Unbelievable.

No councilors have seen fit to fall on their swords.

This sorry tale is an excellent example of how giving the state power over individuals, in this case, over housing, will always end in tears. 'Social' housing, or housing for those less fortunate in society is to important to be left to a corruptible, inefficient state.